Italy Archives - Page 3 of 36

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Some newly discovered frescoes inspired by the Trojan War are among the finest ever to have been found at Pompeii.

Archaeologists working on the Greek island of Aegina have discovered a Mycenean building from the time of the kingdom’s decline.

“Cats were known and domesticated in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, but are absent from the Bible and Second Temple literature. The Persians despised cats, but the Talmud tolerates them.”

For the occasion of last week’s solar eclipse, Carl Rasmussen brings back an explanation of how “the solar eclipse of June 15, 763 B.C. holds the key to the chronology of the Old Testament.”

Logos has some archaeology books available for pre-order:

Approaching Biblical Archaeology, by Anthony J. Frendo
Digging For Insights: Using Archaeology to Study the Bible, by John F. Brug
Pondering the Spade: Discussing Important Convergences between Archaeology and Old Testament Studies, by David B. Schreiner
Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple, 3rd ed., edited by Hershel Shanks
Jesus and the Remains of His Day: Studies in Jesus and the Evidence of Material Culture, by Craig A. Evans

Ferrell Jenkins shares a photo of three milestones taken at the Museum of Mediterranean Archaeology at the Gan Hashlosha (Sachne) park.

John DeLancey has released a bonus session in his Life of Christ in Context series focused on “Jesus in Jerusalem.” His talk includes many photos and illustrations.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz, Ted Weis

Tagged Discoveries, Greece, Italy, Jerusalem, Resources, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

Archaeologists excavating at Philippi discovered a rare head of Apollo dating to about AD 200.

One of the oldest known codices in existence will be auctioned off in June. The Crosby-Schoyen Codex includes what may be the earliest known texts of 1 Peter and Jonah.

Elizabeth Knott explains how the Yale Babylonian Collection Seal Digitization Project used the latest photographic methods to document more than 14,000 seals and seal impressions. The Yale website has more details.

“Since 2002, more than a hundred ‘new’ Dead Sea Scroll fragments have appeared on the antiquities market. Most of these fragments are tiny and deteriorated and have later been revealed as modern forgeries. Nonetheless, they have been big business. In this database, we have catalogued all of them, providing information about their content, owners, alleged provenance, their place in the biblical corpus, size, and publication history.”

Morteza Arabzadeh Sarbanani explores the question of how Cyrus the Great really died. The article includes several beautiful photographs.

“How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep in Antiquity” is the latest episode on This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Next Stop Italy is hosting a virtual walking tour of the hidden treasures of Roman Assisi.

Phillip J. Long reviews the Lexham Geographical Commentary on the Pentateuch, edited by Barry Beitzel. The review includes a list of the 47 chapter titles and authors. He concludes that “these essays go beyond simple identifications of major locations, often dealing with the fine details of the text and larger biblical-theological questions. This volume will be a welcome addition to the library of any Old Testament student, whether professional or layperson.”

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Gordon Franz

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Greece, Italy, Museums, Persia, Resources, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

“In a ceremonial nod to Purim, the Israel Antiquities Authority has disclosed to the public a ceramic jar fragment bearing a human face and dating back to the Persian period (4th-5th centuries BCE) that was discovered in 2019” in Jerusalem.

A high school student found an oil lamp at Mezad Tzafir that is nearly identical to one discovered by Nelson Glueck ninety years ago at the same location.

Archaeologists discovered a mastaba in an Old Kingdom necropolis at Dahshur.

“Archaeologists in Pompeii have unearthed an ancient building site that sheds light on construction techniques used by the Romans to make iconic structures such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon.”

“The only surviving funerary relief of the ancient Greek world depicting twin babies in the same arms was unveiled at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens and will be exhibited only for a few weeks.”

“The British Museum went to court Tuesday against a former curator alleged to have stolen hundreds of artifacts from its collections and offered them for sale online.”

Kazuyuki Hayashi, a professor at Bethel Seminary, has been a supervisor at the Tel Shimron excavation since 2017.

Juan Tebes has been studying pilgrimage routes in the Levant and Hijaz.

Conflicting Jewish traditions place the tomb of Esther and Mordecai in Iran and Israel.

David Moster cut open an old pair of tefillin (phylacteries) to see what Scriptures are inside.

David Hendin, an expert in biblical coins, was interviewed on the Ancient Coin Hour.

Thomas Levy has been honored with a two-volume festschrift featuring research by more than 140 friends and colleagues. (It is a bit pricey, but chapters are available individually.)

The latest issue of Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology is online. One of the articles presents three architectural models from the museum’s collection.

Available for pre-order on Logos: Pondering the Spade: Discussing Important Convergences between Archaeology and Old Testament Studies, by David B. Schreiner

Webinar on April 4: “How did the dead die in Ancient Judah? Death as a social process in Iron Age tombs,” by Matthew Suriano

Webinar on April 18: “Amorites, Their Origins, and Their Legacy,” by Aaron Burke

Sara Japhet, longtime professor at Hebrew University, died this week.

“‘Art of Intimidation: Journey to Ancient Assyria’ is the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East augmented-reality Snapchat lens that brings to life the large casts of sculpted panels from the famed royal palaces of ancient Nineveh and Nimrud.” A video shows how it works.

For the Purim holiday, The Times of Israel profiles a 78-year-old baker who runs the last-of-its-kind Iraqi pastry shop in Israel.

A video of colorized footage from around the world in 1896 includes Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, West Jerusalem, and train station (start at 2:38).

Leen Ritmeyer explains how the tomb of Jesus was sealed.

Bible Archaeology Report proposes the top ten finds related to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

HT: Agade, Paul Mitchell, Arne Halbakken, Paleojudaica

Tagged Discoveries, Egypt, Galilee, Greece, Holidays, Italy, Jerusalem, Lectures, Museums, Negev, Persia, Resources, Sad News, Tomb of Jesus, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

Archaeologists working at Huqoq in Galilee discovered an extensive underground complex used by Jewish villagers to hide from the Romans during the First and Second Jewish Revolts. The site will be open to visitors on March 29 and April 5 with free registration.

In a new relief sculpture discovered in eastern Turkey, “Antiochos of Commagene calls on the people to ‘obey and respect the law.”

Lechaion, one of the harbors of ancient Corinth, is at least 500 years older than previously thought.

Israeli authorities arrested Palestinians who built a parking lot on top of Umm ar-Rihan, a Second Temple period archaeological site in the northern West Bank.

New release: Jerusalem through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades, by Jodi Magness (Oxford University Press, 624 pages, $40; also at Amazon)

New release: Transjordan and the Southern Levant: New Approaches Regarding the Iron Age and the Persian Period from Hebrew Bible Studies and Archaeology, edited by Benedikt Hensel (Mohr Siebeck, €109)

New release: What’s in a Divine Name? Religious Systems and Human Agency in the Ancient Mediterranean, edited by Alaya Palamidis and Corinne Bonnet (De Gruyter; $165; free download)

James Riley Strange reviews Ancient Synagogues Revealed 1981–2022, edited by Lee I. Levine, Zeev Weiss, and Uzi Leibner.

Infusion Bible Conference is offering a digital download of “The Last Days of Jesus” conference (video lectures and notebook) for $69.

The Ancient Arabia website features a digital atlas, a gazetteer, and a thematic dictionary.

All Israel News has an article about two tabernacle replicas in Israel.

Hayah Katz believes that decline of Christian interest in biblical archaeology has contributed to increasing Jewish interest in the field.

Leon Mauldin just visited Ostia, the port city of Rome, and he shares some photos from his visit.

Ferrell Jenkins has posted photos of Corinth’s temple of Apollo and Erastus inscription.

Abigail Leavitt: “I spent the past week digging at Khirbet Rafid, a site across the highway from Tel Shiloh.”

HT: Agade, Gordon Franz, Gordon Dickson, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee, Greece, Holidays, Italy, Jerusalem, Samaria, Tourism, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

“A rare coin from the time of the Bar Kochba revolt, bearing the name ‘Eleazer the Priest,’ has been discovered at the foot of a cliff in the Judean Desert by Israeli archaeologists.” The IAA is also welcoming the public to join them in the hunt for antiquities in the Judean wilderness.

The bust of a huge statue of Ramses II was discovered in the el-Ashmunein area in Minya Governorate in Egypt.

Archaeologists have uncovered a painting in the House of Leda at Pompeii that “depicts Phrixus and Helle, two twins from Greek mythology, as they travel across the sea on a magical ram while fleeing from their evil stepmother.”

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has inaugurated its Biblical Studies and Archaeology Center.

The NY Times has a story on the purple dye factory at Tel Shiqmona.

With the opening of the entrance pavilion to the Tower of David Museum, The Jerusalem Post has a story about the design and construction process.

Amy Erickson explores the question of why the story of Jonah was so frequently depicted in the catacombs of Rome.

The plant remains discovered in the Philistine temples at Gath are the subject of the latest episode of This Week in the Ancient Near East.

Nathan Steinmeyer explains why the Babylonian king Nabonidus may be considered the world’s first archaeologist.

Zoom lecture on Mar 12, 11:00 Eastern Daylight Time: “The cities of the Zagros and their scenes on the Assyrian wall reliefs,” by Dlshad Aziz Marf (Zoom link)

Dewayne Bryant is a guest on Digging for Truth to talk about the historicity of King David.

Now online: The full episode of National Geographic’s “Buried Secrets of the Bible with Albert Lin: Sodom & Gomorrah” (45 min)

The latest Jerusalem in Brief looks at “a tower named after a Philistine giant, some new books, and a dinner party in the middle of World War I.”

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Gordon Dickson, Keith Keyser

Tagged 10th Century, Dead Sea, Discoveries, Egypt, Israel's Coast, Italy, Jerusalem, Judah, Lectures, Museums, Tourism, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup

The Temple Mount Sifting Project has discovered some very rare Byzantine coin weights, suggesting that there was more activity on the Temple Mount in the Byzantine period than usually assumed. Perhaps there was even a church located there.

“Almost a century after the British archaeologist Alan Rowe excavated Gezer, Dr. Samuel Wolff published a final report on the site, including on three vessels whose use defies interpretation.”

“The Forma Urbis Museum recently unveiled an exhibition featuring an ancient marble map of Rome dating back to 203-211 AD.”

Nathan Steinmeyer provides a 6-minute video tour of Beth Shean in the latest episode in BAS’s OnSite series.

Bible History Daily has a piece introducing an article in BAR about the Deborah and Jael mosaics discovered in the Huqoq synagogue.

A new study suggests that Roman wine tasted spicy.

“After years of criticism over its collecting practices, Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum is repatriating to Greece three antiquities that are widely regarded to have been looted.” Reading the article requires a free account.

Hybrid lecture on Feb 22 at the Albright: “The Archaeology of Olive Oil: Excavating a Bronze Age Olive Oil ‘Factory’ in Jordan,” by Jamie Fraser

Biblical Israel Ministry and Tours has begun a new teaching series on the “Life of Christ in Context.” The first episode is an overview of the whole.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Galilee, Italy, Jerusalem, Jezreel Valley, Lectures, Shephelah, Temple Mount, Weekend Roundup